


put a kettle on, my dear.

by Lil_Redhead



Series: Shirbert Drabble Collection [1]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Drabble, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 15:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Redhead/pseuds/Lil_Redhead
Summary: Anne and Gilbert help each other out with their homework.





	put a kettle on, my dear.

He was a rare species of boy she thought to herself staring blankly down at her books. Gilbert Blythe was a rare species, indeed. Head still bent toward her book, she snuck a peek at him at the stove. One of his rolled up sleeves fell down at his side, so he tugged it back and adjusted one of his overalls. He glanced over his shoulder at her, possibly noticing her unusual silence, and her eyes snapped back to the mindless text on geometry.

“Stuck?” he asked, filling the kettle with more water.

Oh, she was stuck alright. Stuck on the horrible habit of staring at him when his back was turned, stuck on noticing the small details of his person when she should have been studying for the Queen’s entrance exams. But unlike the dozens of complex math problems he could help her through, he could not unstick her from her small fixation on him. She would just have to do weedle her way out of that quicksand herself.

“No,” she answered finally when he quirked a brow at her. “But if I ever decide to pursue a life path that requires copious amounts of geometry, you shall have to abandon hope on me then. Surely I will have finally surrendered to insanity, an inevitable defeat against this poor girl who will have put up a gallant fight.”

“What would you have me do in that case?” Gilbert asked, sitting down across from her.

“Oh by then, I will be a lost cause. Like a ship at sea, you will simply have to leave me behind in some sort of romantical fashion. If it takes place during a full moon or - _even better_ \- a thunderstorm, just jump overboard and assume I have been torn asunder.”

“You’re a rare species, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert,” he laughed to himself. She stiffened, wondering if he had secretly been able to read her mind the whole time. How rude it would be to enter into someone’s private thoughts. “Think you could proofread this entrance essay for me before I give it to Miss Stacy to read?”

“Only if you agree to look over my geometry homework,” was her businesslike reply.

“It’s a deal, madam.”

And thus was the exchange of thin parchment over the candlelit table, young eyes squinting to see in the draining light of the sunset. The minutes ticked away in fierce concentration as Anne and Gilbert worked, only occasionally stopping for a quick, “Don’t forget to calculate the length of all sides or else you won’t be able to…” or “I really enjoy this section, but you should elaborate on it more by talking about…”

And when the candle had burned low and Anne considered maybe she should be finding her way home to avoid handling a very angry Marilla, Gilbert flipped around the paper and nodded in pride.

“Well done, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert. Only two wrong.”

“ _Two wrong_?” She snatched the paper out of his hand and brought it up to her nose. “I’m never going to get this right.” Gilbert frowned.

“There were thirty problems, Anne. Twenty-eight correct out of thirty is very impressive. It’s better than most of the other kids in our class.”

Something about the way he said it made her believe him. She flattened the paper against the table and peered shyly up at him.

“You think so?” He nodded with a smile that sent a thrill down to her toes and then back up to the ends of her hair. “Well, you’re the impressive one of the two of us.” She handed the essay back to him, which she had filled with her own notes in the margins and in between the lines. “This truly is exquisite work, Gilbert. If Queen’s doesn’t accept you after reading this essay, then there will truly be no hope for the rest of us.”

“It’s not _that_ great,” he muttered. “But I’m glad you liked it.”

Her heart slowly crept into her throat as he stared at her, one of those deep gazes that he liked to press into her skin, so warm they felt like kisses. It was dangerous, she thought in the back of her mind. It was dangerous the pull that tugged them closer when he stared at her like this.

How could she not feel compelled toward someone who stared at her the way someone smiled into the sun?

The tea kettle suddenly hissed, saving her from saying anything perfectly embarrassing. Gilbert jumped up out of his seat as if someone had poured the hot water all over him and scurried over to the stove.

And if Anne watched for the dozenth time as Gilbert adjusted his sleeve and poured their tea, then that was no one else’s business but her own.


End file.
